France has invited officials from Ukraine's key allies and NATO chief to participate in a video call on March 7 aimed at demonstrating a "united front" and developing concrete proposals to strengthen support for Ukraine, Reuters reported on March 5.
Kucova air base in Albania reopened on March 4 after undergoing a 50 million euro ($54 million) NATO refurbishment, making it the region's largest NATO tactical air base.
The Nordic Response 24 NATO exercises begin in northern Finland, Sweden, and Norway on March 4, for the first time with the participation of Finland as a NATO member, the Finnish public broadcaster YLE reported.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called for discussions on a ceasefire in Ukraine to begin following a diplomatic forum in the Turkish city of Antalya, Reuters reported.
Hungarian parliament speaker Sandor Lezsak has signed off on Sweden's accession to NATO after Hungary's legislature ratified it earlier this week, Reuters reported on March 2, citing the parliament's voting records.
President Volodymyr Zelensky and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte signed a 10-year agreement on security cooperation between Ukraine and the Netherlands in Kharkiv, Zelensky announced on March 1.
There will be "tragic consequences" if NATO troops are sent to Ukraine, and the West's support for Kyiv "risks a conflict using nuclear weapons," Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed during a two-hour State of the Nation address on Feb. 29.
Key developments on Feb. 27: * Military: Ukraine withdraws from Stepove and Severne villages near Avdiivka * Air Force: Ukraine downs 2 Russian Su-34 planes in single day * Ukraine reports heavy battles in Bakhmut direction as Russia pulls in reserves * NATO members say they are not considering sending troops to Ukraine * Macron
Europe must spend more on defense to deter Russia, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in an interview with Financial Times on Feb. 27. She called Europe "naive," for not doing it sooner.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, as well as leaders of Germany, the U.K., and other European NATO member states, have reportedly said they are not considering deploying their troops to Ukraine after French President Emmanuel Macron suggested the possibility of Western military presence in the country.
Hungary's parliament voted to ratify Sweden's application to join NATO on Feb. 26, finalizing the country's membership after almost two years of delays.
The West doesn’t spend enough time analyzing its miscalculations in the Russia-Ukraine war, Kurt Volker, a former U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations, said in an interview with the Kyiv Independent. “We have made many mistakes, from just before Russia's invasion and throughout. The biggest mistake was holding
After almost two years of delays, Hungary's parliament is set to bring Sweden's NATO accession to a vote on Feb. 26. The ruling Fidesz party has pledged its support for the measure, making its passage all but ensured.
"It would be fatal to say he won't do that. You just have to trust him to do that," Strack-Zimmermann said on the Die Wochentester podcast, as reported by German media on Feb. 23.
DONETSK OBLAST – Hiding beneath sparse winter cover in a crude, muddy ditch, a great steel monster lies in wait for an opportunity to attack. Adorned on either side with painted plus signs, the gun’s huge barrel looks up at the sky over the Bakhmut front line, across which thousands
The U.S. and the U.K. are endorsing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to become the next NATO Secretary General, according to media reports on Feb. 22, which cited officials in Washington D.C. and London.
The 47% of Polish respondents who said that a Russian attack on Poland was probable represented a 16% increase from when a similar poll was conducted in May 2023.
The ruling party Fidesz, which has a supermajority in parliament, has pledged its support for Sweden's ratification, all but ensuring its passage if brought to a vote.
Editor’s note: The following piece is a personal account of the Munich Security Conference from a Kyiv Independent reporter but does not purport to reflect the views of the publication. MUNICH – For three days every year, the space in front of the Bayerischer Hof Hotel in central Munich turns
The Washington Post spoke to a number of European officials who said that they were both plotting ways to more effectively communicate with the MAGA wing of the Republican party and making preparations in case former U.S. President Donald Trump is reelected and delivers on his proposed retreat from NATO.
Stubb said that he sees three steps for Ukraine’s European and transatlantic aspirations. The first is security agreements that are currently being signed by all G7 members and 31 countries, followed by EU membership, and finally NATO membership.
Kyiv's partners "need outside-the-box thinking" regarding providing Ukraine with sufficient weaponry to repel Russia's full-scale invasion, ex-NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters at the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 17.
A bipartisan delegation of U.S. Senators will visit Hungary this week to advocate for Sweden's accession to NATO, as Hungary remains the only NATO country to not yet ratify Sweden's entry into the alliance.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that he was "deeply saddened and disturbed" by reports of the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
LONDON – Donald Trump’s potential return to the White House in 2025 poses a grave threat to Europe’s security. With war in Ukraine still raging, European countries must shore up their defenses against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s revanchist aggressions before it is too late. The prospect of an
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg's statement during a Brussels press conference comes days after Donald Trump, the Republican Party's hopeful for the next U.S. president, raised concerns by anti-NATO comments.
"Today, we decided to create a new NATO-Ukraine joint analysis, training, and education center in Bydgoszcz, Poland," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said during a press conference the day before the meeting of the NATO defense ministers in Brussels, Belgium.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed European allies' efforts to strengthen their own defense capabilities but said that this policy "is not an alternative to NATO" when commenting on Donald Trump's recent anti-NATO comments.
Key developments on Feb. 14: * Russian landing ship sinks in Black Sea; Ukraine says it was hit with naval drones * Stoltenberg says 18 of 31 NATO members expected to meet 2% defense spending goal * Kremlin denies Reuters report that Putin proposed ceasefire to US * Canada allocates $44 million to support
NATO’s European allies and Canada have stepped up their defense spending to record levels, but criticism about the Alliance’s members not spending enough is valid, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Feb. 14.
In a first since the end of the Cold War, Germany is expected to reach the 2% defense spending goal, a spokesperson for Germany's Defense Ministry said on Feb. 14.
U.S. Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith doesn’t expect NATO will offer Ukraine a membership invitation at the alliance's July summit in Washington, she said at a press conference on Feb. 13.
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